Velotric Nomad 2 review: A feature-packed fat-tire e-bike with crazy comfort
Fat-tire electric bikes are all the rage these days, designed to triumph on the trails but just as often seen conquering the pavement. Now the newly-released Velotric Nomad 2 is here to take a slice of that adventure-ready market. Designed for riders who want a mix of commuting practicality and off-road capability, this e-bike brings a powerful motor, excellent comfort, and a surprising amount of premium features at a relatively affordable price. But how well does it actually perform? I put it to the test to find out.
Velotric Nomad 2 Video Review
Velotric Nomad 2 Tech Specs
- Motor: 750W rear hub motor with 90Nm of torque
- Top speed: 28 mph (50 km/h) when unlocked to Class 3 mode
- Range: Claimed up to 65 miles (up to 105 km)
- Battery: 48V 14.7Ah 705Wh
- Weight: 75 lb (34 kg)
- Load capacity: 505 lb (230 kg)
- Frame: Aluminum alloy
- Tires: 26×4.0″ puncture-resistant fat tires
- Brakes: Dual-piston Tektro hydraulic disc brakes on 203/180mm rotors (front/rear)
- Price: US $1,999
- Extras: Color LCD display with USB-C phone charging port, 15 pedal assist levels, front and rear LED light with brake light and rear turn signals, 100mm travel hydraulic suspension fork, kickstand, internally routed cables, removable battery, cadence sensor and torque sensor (user selectable to switch back and forth between the two), UL-compliant battery and e-bike system, adjustable stem, and suspension seat post
Big on power, big on tires!
At the heart of the Nomad 2 is a 750-watt rear hub motor cranking out 90 newton-meters of torque. With all the new regulations hitting e-bikes, Velotric seems to be a bit cagier about publishing peak power specs, but the motor feels like it’s one of those 1,300-ish peak watt motors, and the 90 Nm torque spec reveals there’s some serious oomph in that hub motor! That’ll make it strong enough to take on steep hills and power through loose terrain like sand or gravel without breaking a sweat.
I’m glad to see a torque sensor included on the bike for smoother and more responsive pedal assist, but interestingly, riders can toggle between cadence and torque sensing in the settings, which is a unique touch for a bike at this price. The torque sensor offers a more natural pedal feel, responding to how hard you push, while the cadence mode is better suited for those who just want an easy ride with minimal effort. In effect, the cadence sensor basically works like a foot-activated throttle. If your feet are moving, the motor is working.
In practice, both work well, though torque sensing is where you’ll get the best mix of efficiency and responsiveness that makes it feel more like a pedal bike… just a pedal bike being ridden by someone with a professional cyclist’s tree trunk leg muscles.
Speaking of having the power to handle loose terrain like sand and soil, the Nomad 2 rides on 26-inch fat tires, meaning you get plenty of grip and rollover capability for uneven terrain. It also comes with a 100mm travel front suspension fork, helping to smooth out the bumps. And to add even more comfort, a parallel linkage suspension seat post gives you a nicer ride on your own caboose than the cheaper telescoping suspension seat posts we often see. Velotric spent the extra change necessary to upgrade that component, and it’s one you can really feel when the riding gets bumpy. A quality suspension seat post like this makes a big difference. It’s not the same as true rear suspension, but it goes a lot of the way there for casual riders wanting to take the jolts out of their riding. Combined with that hydraulic suspension fork, the bike rides quite nicely on uneven terrain.
The Nomad 2 ships in 20 mph (32 km/h) top speed mode, but you can go into the settings and unlock a top. speed of 28 mph (45 km/h) on pedal assist. You’re still limited to 20 mph on throttle, but pedaling gets you the higher speed for long straightaways that are more fun at higher speeds.
You can even limit the speed lower if you’d like, down to 12 mph (20 km/h). Basically, you’ve got a lot of room to play around with limits on the bikes.
The 705 Wh battery is UL-certified and claims a range of up to 65 miles (105 km), though that’s in ideal conditions with pedal assist. In the real world, they claim a throttle range of 45 miles (72 km) on throttle when riding on flat ground. If you’re a heavier rider or have less-than-ideal conditions, you’ll get a bit less. But with a big 700+ Wh battery, there’s still plenty of energy in there for long rides, especially since few of us spend more than 40 miles in a row in the saddle on any single ride.
Charging is relatively fast, taking about five hours from empty thanks to the 3A charger. The battery is removable, so you can bring it inside to charge instead of hauling the whole bike to an outlet. At 75 lb (34 kg), hauling the entire bike around is a bit of a chore, so removable batteries are a must for many people who don’t have easy access to an outlet, such as in a garage. Apartment dwellers with bike rooms on the ground floor, I see you because I am one of you.
With hydraulic disc brakes on 203mm front and 180mm rear rotors, the Nomad 2 has plenty of stopping power. The brake levers feel solid, and there’s no mushy response when grabbing a handful of brake at speed.
Quality brakes are a must for a powerful, fast, and heavy electric bike. Velotric definitely delivered there.
Handling is predictable and stable, thanks in part to Velotric’s frame geometry, which helps the bike feel planted at higher speeds. Even with the bulk of a fat-tire bike, it never felt too unwieldy.
There are even two sizes available so riders can choose a frame closer to their ideal size. That also helps out shorter and taller riders who tend to find themselves at the extreme ends of the size spectrum on one-size-fits-all electric bikes. With multiple sizes, plus options for step-over and step-thru frames, riders have a lot of fitment choices.
Velotric packed in a surprising amount of tech for a bike in this price range. The 2.4-inch color display is bright and easy to read, offering all the ride stats you’d expect. The bike is also Apple Find My compatible, meaning if someone swipes it, you’ll have a shot at tracking it down, as long as you have an iPhone. I LOVE when companies incorporate this technology because it gives me added peace of mind knowing there’s some hope of finding my bike if it ever walks off.
Other notable features include an AirLock system for keyless unlocking via the Velotric app, a 360-degree lighting setup, including an automatic headlight that adjusts brightness based on surroundings, and integrated rear turn signals. I often ridicule e-bike makers for including turn signals that are unclear and a waste of space. In this case, Velotric’s are actually decent, though still not idea. They’re pretty close to the centerline of the bike making it a bit hard to tell that they are directional signals, but the amber color instead of red does help somewhat distinguish them. These have a prayer of being understood to be directional indicators, though I definitely still signal with my arms when I want to be more confident that drivers understand what I’m about to do. I know some of them will still be oblivious, but I want to give myself the best odds possible.
Overall, I’d say the lighting features are a welcome upgrade in the commuter-friendly category. Adding in the included rear rack and fender set, which both come standard, makes this fat tire adventure bike equally read for on-road commuting adventures.
Closing thoughts
I think it is fair to say that the Velotric Nomad 2 isn’t a hardcore trail bike, but it’s also not just a casual cruiser. It hits a nice middle ground for riders who want an all-terrain e-bike that’s just as comfortable on pavement as it is on dirt trails.
At $1,999, it’s not the cheapest fat-tire e-bike out there, but for the build quality and features, it puts up a good fight. You can definitely get your off-roading rocks off for less money elsewhere, but the added features like solid lighting, UL certification, submersible battery, location tracking, cadence/torque sensor selection, and more all combine to add some real value here that you don’t find from many other brands. It’s also backed by a solid company with many years of solid reputation building, which is becoming more important in an industry flooded with questionable brands still popping up all over the place.
I’d say that the Nomad 2 delivers a lot for the money, especially when you factor in its power, range, hydraulic brakes, and premium tech features. It’s smooth, fast, and versatile enough to handle commuting, off-road riding, and everything in between.
Velotric clearly put effort into refining the ride experience, and it shows. While it doesn’t reinvent the fat-tire e-bike, it does a lot of things right—and that’s exactly what most riders need.
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Traditional painted houses overlooking sea ice in the Old Nuuk district near the Sermitsiaq mountain in Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A global scramble to exploit the Arctic’s untapped resources appears to be kicking into overdrive.
In a push to break China’s mineral dominance, countries around the world are increasingly turning to the thawing and sparsely populated northern polar region, seeking to seize its raw materials and benefit from new commercial trade routes.
U.S. President Donald Trump, for example, has repeatedly underscored the importance of Greenland, a vast Arctic territory, calling U.S. ownership of the island an “absolute necessity” for economic and national security reasons.
Canada has recently sought to ramp up Arctic investment as part of a push designed to unlock its resource potential, particularly amid strained diplomatic ties with the U.S.
Russia, which has a sprawling Arctic coastline, has long recognized the region as a strategic priority. Indeed, President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday lauded the construction of a new nuclear-powered icebreaker ship to navigate Arctic waters, saying “it’s important to consistently strengthen Russia’s position” in the region.
“The Arctic is seen as a source of a lot of different raw materials, not only oil and gas, but a lot of strategic materials and rare earths,” Marc Lanteigne, associate professor at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromso, told CNBC by telephone.
“Greenland, right now, is a repository of a lot of base metals, precious metals, gem stones, rare earths, uranium … it’s all there. The problem is that up until recently, it was seen as completely unviable to actually mine them,” Lanteigne said.
“But with climate change and the ability to navigate the Arctic Ocean much more frequently, especially during the summer months, Greenland is starting to be looked at much more carefully as a potential alternative source for a lot of these strategic materials to China.”
Greenland has been transformed by the climate crisis. A major analysis of historic satellite images, published last year by researchers at the U.K.’s University of Leeds, showed parts of the autonomous Danish territory’s ice sheet and glaciers have been replaced by wetlands, areas of shrub and barren rock.
For mining companies, the major ice loss has inadvertently made some of the island’s strategic minerals more accessible.
Tony Sage, CEO of Critical Metals, which is developing one of the world’s largest rare earth assets in southern Greenland, said there has been a notable upswing in investor interest in Greenland in recent months, particularly since Trump returned to office and raised the prospect of seizing control of the territory.
“I remember in his first term, in around 2018 and 2019, he made a big song and dance about the strategic value of rare earths in Greenland, so even back then,” Sage told CNBC by telephone.
Perception vs. reality
Alongside Critical Metals, mining and exploration company Amaroq is also working to exploit some of Greenland’s resources. Amaroq CEO Eldur Olafsson said the firm’s recent discovery of high-grade rare earths in southern Greenland “means a lot to us.”
The project, which will take several years to develop, marked the firm’s first foray into the rare earths space as it expands its interests beyond gold and other strategic minerals.
Just one week after unveiling its rare earths discovery, the company on Nov. 11 confirmed commercial levels of germanium and gallium at its west Greenland hub, a development that Olafsson said could prove to be even more strategically significant.
“The germanium, gallium piece is, in my opinion, much bigger news than people understand,” Olafsson told CNBC by video call.
This aerial view shows icebergs floating in the waters beaten down by the sun with buildings in the background off Nuuk, Greenland, on March 11, 2025, on the day of Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory, legislative elections.
Odd Andersen | Afp | Getty Images
Germanium and gallium are essential components to a wide range of goods, from electric vehicles to semiconductors and military applications.
China, which is the primary global producer of these metals, imposed initial export controls on germanium and gallium in 2023, before singling out the U.S. with an outright ban late last year in response to curbs imposed on its chip sector by Washington. Beijing has since suspended its ban of gallium and germanium exports to the U.S., although the metals remain subject to restrictive measures.
“That is a mineral that the U.S. and the European Union need now. The rare earths are being processed by Lynas and MP Materials. That is something that you can access, I wouldn’t say easier, but you can access it … Germanium and gallium, if you don’t have them then that is a massive problem,” Olafsson said.
“We now have a short-term solution in mining terms to mine zinc, lead, silver and germanium and gallium, while we are then developing exporting the rare earths as well.”
Olafsson said it was important for the company to generate cashflow through its portfolio of gold and other strategic metals while it seeks to deliver on its rare earths potential, noting that the rare earths market is still relatively small.
Asked whether the race for the Arctic’s resources could be compared to a gold rush, Lanteigne said: “This is where perception and reality tend to kick in.”
He added: “There has been a lot of discussion about a rush to develop mineral resources in Greenland, for example, but I can say having been there quite a few times that if you are going to set up a mine then you need to bring in literally everything.”
Even in ideal conditions, Lanteigne said logistical challenges, such as Greenland’s harsh climate and remote landscape, means it could take 15 to 20 years before companies start to turn a serious profit.
Arctic Sweden
It’s not just Greenland. The scramble for the Arctic’s minerals includes some of the northernmost areas of Sweden, too.
State-owned mining firm LKAB is currently racing to develop one of Europe’s largest known deposits of rare earths. The discovery of the so-called Per Geijer deposit, which was announced in 2023, sits in close proximity to the firm’s massive iron ore mine in the Arctic city of Kiruna.
Rain falls as a general view taken on August 21, 2025 shows the LKAB iron ore mine and a sign bearing the company’s logo in Kiruna, northern Sweden.
Jonathan Nackstrand | Afp | Getty Images
Niklas Johansson, senior vice president public affairs and external relations at LKAB, said the company is currently in discussion with European lawmakers to ensure that it will be economically viable to develop its resources.
“We’ve already got the material up to the ground. That’s all been paid for by the iron ore. Still, it’s not a given that this is a business case. It looks like it is for us at the moment, but it’s not something that you’d say, ‘oh it’s a no brainer, just run for it,'” Johansson told CNBC by telephone.
“I also tell them that if it looks like this for us, who has most of the infrastructure and everything in place, how do you think it will look for others in Europe?”
The German city of Karlsruhe is setting an example for sustainability in waste management by deploying a fleet of 18 Mercedes-Benz eEconic electric garbage trucks that are helping make the streets cleaner, quieter, and a lot less stinky.
Since the end of September, the city of Karlsruhe has been relying on Mercedes’ fully electric waste collection vehicles throughout, with none of the area-specific restrictions or limited rollout strategies for one or two trucks at a time that typically accompany stories like these. Instead, the city is using the Mercedes eEconics for the same stuff they’d use the diesel versions for: residual waste disposal, paper collection, and bulky waste collection.
Normal garbage duty, in other words. And, in such daily use, they do a great job. The trucks cover an average route distance of around 80 km (about 50 miles) on 112 kWh battery packs (usable capacity is ~97 kWh) which can be reliably completed in single-shift operation without intermediate charging — thanks, in part, to Mercedes’ efficient electric motors and regenerative braking that shines in the trucks’ typical stop-and-go duty cycles.
More than a single shift, in fact. The fleet managers report that after “a good 80 kilometers with around 60 stops on its daily route,” energy consumption was only around 35% of the battery capacity, meaning the charge level dropped from 100% to 65% and 64% respectively.
At the same time, CO₂ emissions are significantly reduced: depending on the area of application, each eEconic can save between 150 and 170 tons of CO₂ per year. This results in a total potential annual saving of around 1,200 tons of CO₂ emissions.
The purchase of the electric vehicles was funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) as part of the guideline on the promotion of light and heavy commercial vehicles with alternative, climate-friendly drives and the associated refueling and charging infrastructure (KsNI). The funding guideline was coordinated by NOW GmbH, and applications were approved by the Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility.
Electrek’s Take
Look, you know me. There is absolutely ZERO chance that I’ll be able to remain objective about anything that’s putting down more than four thousand lb-ft of torque. Make that thing quieter, cleaner, and generally better for me and my community, and there’s even less of a chance of me saying anything critical about it.
Here’s hoping more cities go electric rather sooner than later.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Daimler Truck.
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Electreon just took a big step toward expanding wireless EV charging. The Israel-based company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire the assets of InductEV, a Pennsylvania-based firm known for its ultra-fast, high-power static wireless charging systems used by heavy-duty electric transit and freight fleets.
If the deal closes after due diligence and regulatory approvals, the combined company would bring together Electreon’s dynamic wireless charging tech – the kind that can charge vehicles while they drive – with InductEV’s high-power stationary systems. That would create one of the most complete wireless charging portfolios on the market, covering everything from passenger EVs to vans, buses, heavy-duty trucks, and even autonomous vehicles.
Electreon and InductEV together hold around 400 granted and pending patents, and have a lot of field experience across their respective projects. Electreon says that pairing its manufacturing capabilities and global footprint with InductEV’s ultra-fast tech will help streamline and speed up fleet electrification.
Both companies already work with major vehicle OEMs, which Electreon asserts will make integrating wireless charging into future vehicle platforms easier.
Electreon CEO Oren Ezer said the deal would combine the two companies into “a truly global powerhouse for wireless EV charging.” He added that “the decision by InductEV’s shareholders to invest in Electreon is a tremendous vote of confidence in our shared vision.”
InductEV CEO John F. Rizzo said, “Together, we’re combining world-class innovation with real-world experience to deliver even greater value to our North American and European customers and accelerate the shift to wireless power for sustainable commercial transportation.”
Read more: Michigan installs the US’s first wireless EV charging public roadway
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